Story+2009-09-21+Des+Moines,+IA

“Good evening, Des Moines! (crowd cheers) good evening, Iowa! (crowd cheers) Stevie, blow a kiss to that woman right there…oh, Silvio, Silvio, wherefore art thou?...alright, the mighty E Street Band has come all the way to Iowa (crowd cheers) and I wanna tell you that’s one motherfucker of a trip…we’ve come all the way to Iowa tonight to fulfil our solemn vow…we’re gonna build a house right in this room out of music and out of spirit and out of noise (crowd cheers) now the mighty E Street Band is here tonight, ladies and gentlemen, and we’re gonna bring down the power of the music on you but, Des Moines, we need you to bring the noise (crowd cheers) now sing it like you mean it…”
 * 21.09.09 Des Moines, Iowa, middle of “Working on a Dream”**

“Alright, we try to play one song that we’ve never ever played before (crowd cheers) we are challenged here, let me see if we get there…(?)…did he get it?*...I don’t see it…(sings to himself)…we’re gonna figure it, this is, this is how it goes (chuckles)…(sings to himself)…(?)…we’re gonna get it, we’re gonna get it…(?) what is it, what is it?...yeah, yeah, yeah (laughs)…(sings to himself)…oh, you’ve got it, Baby, Steve Van Zandt! (crowd cheers) stumped, huh? so somebody thinks they’re gonna stump the E Street Band (fakes laughter) not on my watch, alright, here we go…maybe I’ll do the verse myself (sings to himself)…alright, alright, here we go…we have never played it before…but we’re gonna play it in Iowa (crowd cheers)… (…) I tear open my shirt, show “Rosalita” on my chest!...” //[*Probably referring to someone getting the lyrics into the teleprompter.]// //[*According to Backstreets, “The sign for this one read, “The Wanderer…Stumped?" After their performance, Bruce tore the sign up.”]//
 * 21.09.09 Des Moines, Iowa, intro to “The Wanderer”**

“Yes, yes, thank you, thank you for coming out and seeing us tonight, thank you very much (crowd cheers) thank you, thank you…we’ve, uh, we’re getting towards the end of our, our tour (?) and I guess we’ve had about the best time of our lives (crowd cheers) and, uh, we wanna thank all of you for coming out, supporting our band over all these years and for taking our music into your hearts…thank you, we love you (crowd cheers) we’ve got some friends in the hall tonight, we’ve got folks from the Foodbank of Iowa…since 1982 the Foodbank of Iowa’s served hungry citizens in this community, in the last year alone they’ve donated over five million pounds of food to those in need, the struggling citizens of central Iowa…as you know, the horrific hard times we’ve been going through, see that unemployment rate so, so high, so many people have lost their jobs and lost their home and sometimes the only safety net they have are grassroots organizations like the Foodbank of Iowa, they’re out there on the frontline doing God’s work so please support if you see them on your way out…this is a song written in 1855 called “Hard times come again no more”…”
 * 21.09.09 Des Moines, Iowa, intro to “Hard Times”**

“You up there (crowd cheers)(music starts) thank you, Iowa, for coming out tonight (crowd cheers)… (…) Little Steven (crowd cheers) Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) Curtis King (crowd cheers) Sister Soozie Tyrell (crowd cheers) the unstoppable Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) Professor Roy Bittan (crowd cheers) Charlie D. Giordano (crowd cheers) Cindy Mizelle (crowd cheers) one of the greatest guitarists in the world, Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers) and the biggest tall guy you’ve ever seen, Clarence “Big Man” Clemons (crowd cheers) Des Moines! (crowd cheers) Des Moines! (crowd cheers) Iowa! (crowd cheers) Iowa! (crowd cheers) Iowa! (crowd cheers) Iowa! (crowd cheers) Iowa! (crowd cheers) Iowa! (crowd cheers) you’ve just seen the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, earth-shocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, love-making, Viagra-taking, history-making, legendary (crowd: “E Street Band”)(crowd cheers)...”
 * 21.09.09 Des Moines, Iowa, intro to “American Land”**

“It’s almost my birthday (crowd cheers) we gotta do this one… (…) We gotta get going, Steve…ah, but we ain’t quitting yet…we got miles to go before we sleep…yeah…are you with me, Brother? (Steve: “I don’t know”) are you with me, Brother? (Steve: “Do we have to go home?”) is the band with me?...are the people with me? (crowd cheers) let’s go… (…) Goodnight, everybody (crowd cheers)…(?)…thanks for a great birthday party (crowd cheers)…”
 * 21.09.09 Des Moines, Iowa, intro to “Glory Days”**

//Compiled by Johanna Pirttijärvi//